For the most part, Daniel Straily's debut was a successful one in Oakland. He worked six crisp innings against the Blue Jays on Friday (5 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 5 K), showed a good mix of pitches. Like a lot of the current Athletics starters, he's doubtful to ever be a front-line pitcher, but he might be good enough to settle in as a No. 3 someday, perhaps a low No. 2. There's impressive depth in this organization.
Alas, Straily's debut had two missing elements to it that left roto players wanting. For one thing, he didn't get the win: Ryan Cook made a three-run mess in the ninth. And most Yahoo! players couldn't access Straily in their game, since he wasn't added to the player pool yet.
I know a lot of gamers are frustrated by that fact of life, and I've read your comments on the matter. Try to be respectful on this matter, amigos; you don't want to shoot the messenger, for one thing, and I'm always going to relay reasonable ideas and suggestions to the powers that be. I want to help whenever I can.
I hope most of you can see the perfect-storm elements to the Straily case. He had a mediocre season at Class-A last year and wasn't on anyone's radar entering 2012. Go back and look at whatever prospect list or guru you prefer: Baseball America had him buried in their ranks. Baseball Prospectus didn't put him in their annual. Keith Law, Kevin Goldstein, Rob Steingall, none of these guys were discussing or promoting Straily last winter.
Heck, even Peter Brand missed on Straily. The A's selected the Oregon-bred righty in the 24th round back in 2009.
It's not practical for the Yahoo! game to have every minor-league player in the database to open the season. Consider for a second just how overwhelming the minor-leagues are; it's a gigantic landscape. And for the game to be fair to everyone in-season, we really don't want to have out-of-nowhere additions to the player pool; no one should be able to add a new commodity simply because they were the first gamer online to notice the random, unspecific insertion to the player pool.
Everyone at Yahoo! constantly wants to improve, all of us. Writers, editors, designers, customer care, we can always get better. I'm not going to engage any further debate in this issue - I don't see what the point of it is, since I'm not a game designer and nothing's going to change in 2012 - but if you have a good idea, I'll try to make sure it's advanced to the next level.
That's all I can do.
(Okay, I can do one other thing, here's your preview to the Straily Shuffle-Up price: something in the $6-8 range. You love him in the big ballpark and obviously he's been money in the minors this year, but we have to worry about a potential innings shutdown, not to mention those big name pitchers that are on the mend in Oakland. Full starting pitchers will be out at some point this weekend, be on the lookout for that. And yes, I trust Straily for next week's home start against the Angels.)
• Ah, those stupid thumb injuries. The Injury Gods took a shot at Emilio Bonifacio on Friday, giving him a jammed thumb that will keep him out for 2-3 weeks. Given that Bonifacio's game is all about speed, not power, perhaps this injury won't impact him as much as it might a slugging type. But with the Marlins 10,000 leagues from playoff contention, we can't be sure the team will opt for a quick return. As always, I suggest you take a realistic, if not slightly pessimistic, view of this injured player.
In the meantime, let's keep streaming against these fish whenever we can. It already was the worst offense in the majors with Bonifacio. Some of that will be lessened if and when Giancarlo Stanton returns, but we all know a train wreck when we see one. Jon Niese is the only Stream Police starter I see up against Miami over the next week (though a few universal arms come into play), but there will be others.
• Jacoby Ellsbury is another rabbit we're worrying about, through his issues are far less severe than Bonifacio's. Ellsbury has a sore leg and won't go Saturday. The Boston center fielder been an ordinary player in the second half (.280-11-1-3-3, over 20 games), again underscoring the idea that you shouldn't expect immediate miracles when name players return from long-term injuries. Heck, I know I priced him too highly in the last outfield Shuffle Up, too.
Are we sure this isn't all just Bobby Valentine's fault? Okay, let's move on.
• I'm not going to give you a long Tyler Colvin piece for a while — that tale has been told — but I will let you know that Colvin might have a full-time gig of his own fairly soon. Michael Cuddyer is dealing with an oblique injury, and it's possible he might need a DL stint.
Now you never know what Jim Tracy might do, so Colvin comes with no guarantees. But if the team plays him and leaves him alone, this could be a $15-17 bat the rest of the way. Lots of strikeouts, sure, but the pop is legit and the average shouldn't hurt you. Dare to dream.
• This isn't really a big roto note, but I'd like to thank the Orioles for bringing Lew Ford and Nate McLouth to the majors over the last week. Where was this service when I was a kid? Bombo Rivera could have played forever.
I'm off to Comerica Park for the Tigers and Indians. That guy in the upper deck with the Michigan cap who looks like me … is probably me. Good luck with your stat-grabbing Saturday night.
There's a lesson here that most of you know, but it's worth repeating and relearning: we have to analyze the coaches and managers along with the players in this numbers racket. As much as we'd love for all coaching decisions to come down to benevolence and fairness, the real world doesn't always run like that. Some managers fall in love with veterans even when it's nearly impossible to defend. Some coaches favor platoons and player competition, no matter how dynamic one option might look. Some pilots are patient when a high-visibility player hits a slump, while others might make a change with the slightest inclination. The styles are all over the map.
• Yes, the Rangers have a loaded lineup. You bet, the Athletics have a nice pitching rotation. But sometimes a talented youngster merits a call-up from the minors on talent and results alone, no matter if there's an obvious opening or not. With that in mind, let's talk about the two buzzy callups on the docket: Texas 3B Mike Olt and Oakland SP Dan Straily.
• Colvin cranked homers Monday and Tuesday, which fired up the Twitter feed: I'd like to see what Tyler Colvin could do with regular playing time. A very quiet 10 homers in 168 at-bats.
-- Sure, Todd Helton is around — but he's also closing in on his 39th birthday (Aug. 20) and dealing with a sore hip. Helton's only seen seven at-bats this month (he's down to a sorry .239 /.333 /.404 slash), and remember Colvin can spell any of the outfielders, too. There's no way the Rockies can bench their emerging star right now.
• I try to be careful when it comes to quotes from professional sports. Players, general managers and coaches have no incentive to tell us the truth (or to be upfront with us), and we know agents can't be trusted. As the grapevine taught us long ago, you believe half of what you see and none of what you hear.
Speed Round: You're on your own with Tim Lincecum (8 R, 7 ER at Washington). I'm not touching him in any of my leagues, even if he's sitting for free somewhere (I don't think he is). His only excellent start out of his last six comes with a huge asterisk — it was against the hapless Dodgers. … After hitting just three homers over 56 games, Ryan Zimmerman has four in his last eight games, including another in the early July 4 match. That must be an amazing shot of cortisone he put into his shoulder. … Dustin Pedroia has been told to stay out of Wednesday's lineup. Do not mess with thumb injuries, my friends. He'll be examined by team doctors when the club returns to Boston on Thursday. … Brian Fuentes has been designated for assignment, which sounds so much cooler than it really is. The A's tried aggressively to shop him but no one was fooled. … Shaun Marcum is still feeling discomfort in the elbow, so don't assume he'll return immediately after the All-Star break. … Brian Roberts (groin) is injured again, to the surprise of no one. He wasn't doing anything roto-worthy anyway. … Andre Ethier still has some discomfort in his rib-cage area, so "day-to-day" will probably turn into "DL stint" any moment now. Man do the Dodgers need to add a batter, or five. … So much for the cushy Franklin Morales start against Oakland; Bobby Valentine pulled out the rug from under us and called a holiday audible. The Red Sox will now use Morales on Saturday at home against the Yankees, one half of a double-header. Your depth and league specs make the call — this is not an automatic start on my clipboard. If you own Morales and are already committed, hope the lefty gets the better half of the draw (managers normally will rest some regulars in one half of a twin-bill). It's almost impossible to project double-leader lineups before the fact, however.
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